Detour via the stock exchange

Russian natural gas can still end up at OMV

Gazprom stopped its gas deliveries to Austria on Saturday. Since then, trading on the exchange has increased significantly. The domestic company OMV has also increased its purchases there, according to industry sources. Some of the gas is likely to come from Gazprom via this detour.

This would allow the Russian company to sell its natural gas to the Austrian population at a profit despite the legal disputes with OMV. Christoph Dolna-Gruber from E-Control said that it was not possible to trace the origin of gas purchased on the exchange. However, OMV has no choice but to buy on the exchange in order to meet its supply obligations in the short term.

According to preliminary data from the Slovakian transmission system operator Eustream, 22.3 million cubic meters of gas were scheduled to be delivered to Austria via Slovakia on Monday. Before the delivery stop, OMV had received 17 million cubic meters per day from Gazprom.

This is how the volume of gas supplied has developed since November 11.

Who still purchases gas from Gazprom
In total, the Russian company exports around 42.4 million cubic meters of gas to Europe every day. A replacement was quickly found for the volumes that are no longer going to OMV, partly via new buyers and intermediaries. According to insiders, Russian gas is significantly cheaper than gas from other sources. It is sold to Slovakia and Hungary, for example, as well as to the Czech Republic, which does not have a direct contract. Smaller quantities also go to Italy and Serbia.

Agreement ends at the end of the year
The supply freeze is the result of a legal dispute between OMV and Gazprom. OMV was awarded 230 million euros in damages by an arbitration tribunal. The Austrian energy company has therefore announced that it will offset the Russian gas deliveries against the compensation. The current invoice for October is no longer to be paid.

However, there will probably be no more gas deliveries from Russia from the end of the year anyway. This is when Russia's gas transit agreement with Ukraine, which was concluded for five years, ends.